In picture books, text and images are the conduits of meaning; they work together.
Picture books move. Not in the sense of a motion picture, which captures segments of constructed, yet fluid, movement; but more along the lines of stop- motion animation, which freezes selected moments along a continuum of time.
Even so, stop-motion carries a sense of fluidity and a more detailed documentation of movement. Picture books are more episodic. So are illustrated texts. Come to think of it, so is the writing.
Narratives include action and events multiplied into a series. In narrative illustrations, events are depicted in a sequence of actions that advance the plot.
In other books, the illustrations may be more episodic through the selection of big ideas presented in small moments. In a book about the Civil War, Patricia Polacco's portrayals of simple interactions speak volumes about the characters and their evolution as people in Pink and Say (Figure 5.12, p. 107 in the textbook). The illustrations tell a visual story in a particular place (setting) with character development occurring within the plot.
Overall, narrative illustration tells a story. Yet, just as a writer makes authorial choices with regard to sequencing, point of view, pacing, voice, and tone, the illustrator makes the same choices. The illustrator is not retelling the author's story; the illustrator is creating his or her own visual story.
Similarly, you are not retelling what is happening in the images; you are creating your own detailed and expanded text that goes deeper.
Your task is to utilize Henry Cole's images from Unspoken to write a complex version of the story. Consider the factors identified in Chapter 5 as well as the qualities of good writing as you create the story for an adolescent audience. In other words, create a complex plot (e.g.,
There is the basic story communicated in the pictures, but what is the backstory, what is the subtext, what is the theme?) Using rich vocabulary and advanced sentence structure create a piece of quality literature for older youth/adolescents.
To create your stories, you can use the powerpoint template provided to you. This is a basic template and you should alter the images and add text as you wish.
Procedures
Make sure to add text to each image. Also, be creative with your use of text. Feel free to play with font sizes, colors, typeface, etc. Make sure your text is readable, accessible, and balanced.
Please Note: The Journey images posted for you contain two pages within one image. You can work with this double spread layout, but if you prefer you can split the images if working with a single page makes more sense. The only requirement is to include each image and to add text to each slide to tell your version of the story. Also, you don't have to stick to prose. If you prefer a lyrical, poetic style, feel free to tell your story in verse. The key is to maintain a more complex story and use high-quality language.
Submit
You will submit a PDF version of your story. If you work with Powerpoint or Keynote, you can save your slideshow as a PDF. It is a smaller size file, and it allows a more universal access, preventing issues with downloading and compatibility. Powerpoint or Keynote is the easiest software to use for this project.
Unspoken Images
Summary
Create a textual narrative for Unspoken (a wordless book). Write the story for older children/adolescents. We have provided all of the images, but you will create the high-quality text and deep storyline that corresponds to the images (but does not retell what is happening in the images) and accounts for young adolescents' reading levels and interest. Submit a PDF (Portable Document Format).
Helpful Hint
Do not describe the images or tell us what is happening in the pictures. We know the basic plot. We can see the images and we comprehend the general storyline. What else could be happening? Give us an excellent story that builds from the images and takes us to interesting places.